Flytec
Wills Wing

Oz Report

Volume 6, Number 5
4 pm, Sunday, January 6 2002

https://OzReport.com
"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."
Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:00 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Australian Open Results

Aeros Combat|Chris Zimmerman|Davis Straub|Gordon Rigg|Matthew Bower|Mike Barber|Oleg Bondarchuk|Rohan Holtkamp|Rohan Taylor|Wills Wing

Combined Open:

1

BARBER Mike

Moyes Litespeed 4

USA

785

809

887

883

3364

2

RIGG Gordon

Moyes Litespeed

GBR

911

817

849

786

3363

3

BONDARCHUCK Oleg

Aeros Combat- 2

UKR

678

821

921

921

3341

4

ALONZI Mario

Icaro Laminar 13

FRA

851

695

891

890

3327

5

DURAND Jon Jnr

Moyes Litespeed 4

AUS

856

815

876

757

3304

6

HOLTKAMP Rohan

Airborne Climax 13

AUS

876

668

823

900

3267

7

PRITCHARD Phil

Moyes Litespeed 4

AUS

772

774

831

849

3226

8

STRAUB Davis

Air Atos

USA

415

864

1000

946

3225

9

ANDERSON Anders

Airborne Climax

SWE

778

733

833

803

3147

10

ZIMMERMAN Chris

Wills Wing Talon

USA

646

719

843

912

3120

Class I Open:

1

BONDARCHUCK Oleg

Aeros Combat- 2

UKR

674

879

996

984

3533

2

BARBER Mike

Moyes Litespeed 4

USA

785

867

947

929

3528

3

RIGG Gordon

Moyes Litespeed

GBR

916

875

886

824

3501

4

DURAND Jon Jnr

Moyes Litespeed 4

AUS

859

873

933

798

3463

5

ALONZI Mario

Icaro Laminar 13

FRA

854

695

951

938

3438

6

HOLTKAMP Rohan

Airborne Climax 13

AUS

880

669

859

952

3360

7

PRITCHARD Phil

Moyes Litespeed 4

AUS

772

777

883

900

3332

8

ANDERSON Anders

Airborne Climax

SWE

778

789

885

838

3290

9

ZIMMERMAN Chris

Wills Wing Talon

USA

641

773

880

971

3265

10

BOISSELIER Antione

Moyes Litespeed

FRA

628

678

895

976

3177

King Posted Class:

1

GIAMMICHELE Tony

Moyes SX 6

AUS

588

749

922

880

3139

2

HOLT Greg

Airborne Blade

AUS

665

830

549

873

2917

3

BOWER Matthew

Moyes Xtralite 137

AUS

394

746

616

886

2642

4

ROBERTSON Mark

Airborne Shark

AUS

479

658

470

944

2551

5

HEFFER Dick

Moyes SX 4

AUS

490

511

645

902

2548

Floater Class:

1

BEAVIS Alan

Moyes Ventura

AUS

358

1000

1000

933

3291

2

BARNES Andrew

Moyes Sonic

AUS

218

794

790

716

2518

3

KELLY Kathy

Moyes Xt

AUS

681

193

849

701

2424

4

HANNAFORD Scott

Airborne Sting

AUS

541

852

293

612

2298

5

PURCELL Nick

Moyes Xt

AUS

451

787

388

199

1825

Results up at: http://www.cool-ether.net.au/australianopen2002.

Discuss "Australian Open Results" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:01 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic The Americans in Oz

Wills Wing

Mike Barber|Wills Wing

Chris Zimmerman|Mike Barber|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Chris Zimmerman|Mike Barber|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Bo Hagewood|Chris Zimmerman|Mike Barber|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Bo Hagewood|Chris Zimmerman|Kari Castle|Mike Barber|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Bo Hagewood|Chris Zimmerman|Kari Castle|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Wills Wing

Aeros Combat|Bo Hagewood|Chris Zimmerman|Kari Castle|Mike Barber|Paris Williams|Wills Wing

What's the story with the American Class I pilots flying in the Australian Open?

2

BARBER Mike

Moyes Litespeed 4

USA

3528

9

ZIMMERMAN Chris

Wills Wing Talon

USA

3265

15

ROSSIGNOL Jerzy

Aeros Stealth

USA

3065

16

WILLIAMS Paris

Icaro Laminar

USA

2919

27

HAGEWOOD Bo

Aeros Combat- 2

USA

2528

40

STINNET James

Moyes Litespeed 4

USA

1926

41

CASTLE Kari

Aeros Combat- 2

USA

1805

Bo is distracted by his job flying the trike to get the rest of us in the air.  He's lacking in focus, and doesn't have all the equipment that he needs to fly here (came without a radio). He's effected by his recent spin at crash on the ATOS and landing in the surf at Stanwell Park.  Starting late means fewer points under the OZGAP system.  He's flying a glider that his is just getting familiar with.

Kari started disorganized and not in the competition mode.  She's flying a glider that is new to her and it has needed a few adjustments to get the turns out of it (a common problem with flex wing gliders). She didn't catch on right away that she needed to start early, and then didn't think hard enough about launching earlier.  She's lacked focus (until the last day) and hasn't taken the competition seriously.

Paris started the first leg of the first day in great form.  Then the guys out in front screwed up and got out alone and low, while the pilots just behind them saw a reinforcing message that told them to head up wind right after the turnpoint.  This initial setback was difficult to overcome especially when he got a late start on the last day.  He also wasn't able to run ahead of the lead gaggle on the 2nd and 3rd days.

Mike got to Australia at the last minute after making a late decision to get here.  He confused himself on the first day going into goal forgetting that the goal was indeed 400 meters from cross marked on the ground.  Not making this mistake would have won him the meet.  Virtual goals are a new thing and small changes upset Mike who has got his winning routine down.

Mike also wasn't comfortable with the OzGAP system and how many points were being earned by going early.  This definitely changes one's strategy and Mike wasn't as comfortable with this system as he should have been if he wanted to win (which he almost did).

Hopefully after this wakeup call the American Class I pilots will take the meet in Hay more seriously and focus their efforts on winning or at least placing much higher and earning points for the US National team.

Discuss "The Americans in Oz" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:02 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Tove is the best meet organizer/director in the world

Rohan Taylor|weather|Worlds

Rohan Taylor|Tove Heaney|weather|Worlds

Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Rohan Taylor|Tove Heaney|weather|Worlds

How many national level meets have I been to in the last 12 or 13 years?  Quite a few, and while I haven't seen it all, I've seen plenty.  Tove Heaney has just done a great job organizing and directing the Australian Open.  While the meet was marred by four days of high winds, the four days we did fly were great fun.

Unlike many meet directors Tove can delegate responsibility and give the people doing the delegated tasks the authority to make the decisions.  Unlike most men, her ego doesn’t get in the way of allowing others to have the power to make decisions about "her" meet.  Emotionally she can let go of the assigned tasks.  This lets the people taking on the tasks exercise their best thinking and judgment.

The task committee made all the decisions about the tasks and she just facilitated.  The task committee meeting were very short and I thought (and I am quite biased about this) the tasks were great (especially given the constraints that we operated under). We decided on three tasks every day and did so in under five minutes.

Len Patton with his superb weather forecasts (other than the first day), and Zupy with his scoring (totally under his control) were part of a competent team.  Without the very succinct weather reports from Len our job on the task committee would have been a lot more difficult.

Tove made sure that the Task Committee knew that their job was to live up to the promises that she had made to all the classes of pilots who came to the meet.  We wanted to call two-hour tasks for the floaters and the king posted pilots and three hours for the open class.  We wanted to make tasks that got 30 percent of the pilots into goal each day.  She gave us the guidelines and we knew what to do.

Meet directors and organizers usually get highly stressed out and Tove had plenty of opportunities to do likewise, but she handled all the adverse situations (mainly the weather) with aplomb.  She has a capability (natural or learned) to not let things get to her.  She delegated authority with ease and then relied on her team to do the work.

She is innovative – coming up with a new format to encourage new pilots to join in the competition.  With three competitions in one she addressed a major problem in the hang gliding world – getting less experienced pilots, some more experience.  The new pilots loved the competition and saw that there were goals that they in fact could make even if they didn't every day.  Lots of new pilots got to goal for the very first time.

She did the political grunt work - joining the HGFA competition committee and getting the competition rules changed so that they would favor getting new pilots into competitions and allow her to do three competitions at once.

She did (with Kat's help) what they said couldn't be done – they made their own trophies.  They were beautiful pottery plates and were well appreciated by those who won them.  So much better than standard trophies (and on the level of the great framed art given out by the Flytec Championship last year).

Australian meet directors and organizers are (in my experience) the best in the world (although they had the worst at the last Worlds in Australia). Just because I'm calling Tove the best in the world, doesn’t mean that Vicki, Zupy, Rohan, and Mad Dog aren't among the best in the world, because they are.

I've also had good experiences with American and European meet directors, it's just that someone has to be the best and for my money it is Tove.  If all meet directors can just learn from her example (delegate, delegate, delegate), they would be happier (and less stressed out), and so would everyone else.

Discuss "Tove is the best meet organizer/director in the world" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:03 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic ATOS–C does very well indeed

The ATOS-C did very well at the Australian Open.  After I screwed up on the first day, while in the lead, my ATOS-C was able to come in second, first and first on the last three days against flex wing competition.  Of course, it shouldn't be all that surprising that the ATOS does well against flex wings, but it is nice to see it doing so very well.

It is quite clear to me (and to many of the flex wing pilots that I flew with) that there has been a big step up in performance from last year for the ATOS-C. This is partly due to the fact that I am flying with 22 pounds of ballast (which I didn't in the last Australian meets), but also due to the reduced drag of the newest ATOS configuration.

I was consistently able to glide faster and stay higher then any of the flex wings I was flying with.  I almost always arrived higher in the thermal than any other glider and then I was able to stay above everyone else.

Even though I almost always went out on my own in front of the gaggle, reducing my chances for quickly finding the best lift, I was able to stay on top and lead for the next round of thermal searching and gliding.

When on my own I was able to fly even faster than the gaggles that I started with by punching upwind further and not having to drift downwind as far.  I was able to fly in upwind conditions faster than flex wing pilots (ballast is part of that equation).

It seems clear to me that the ATOS-C and the flex wings should not be compared with each other (in the same way that the Swift and the rigid wing hang gliders shouldn't be compared with each other). It is unfair to the flex wing pilots and doesn't give their skills the credit that they deserve.

Of course, on the last day Gerolf came into his own when he flew the Litesport so well and came in first in front of the topless gliders (which do have better performance).

Discuss "ATOS–C does very well indeed" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:04 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Oleg doing well

Manfred Ruhmer

Manfred Ruhmer|Oleg Bondarchuk

Manfred Ruhmer|Oleg Bondarchuk

When I wrote the Oz Report yesterday while waiting for the results I didn't have any idea that Oleg might win the meet.  I just started off the lead article with how well Oleg was doing and then at the end I found out that Oleg had in fact been doing very very well indeed.

Last year I wrote about how poorly Oleg was feeling and doing.  This did not make me many friends and I got Oleg quite angry with me (well, at least for a day). Oleg is the sweetest guy you'll ever meet, so I felt quite bad about that.  Still I reported on what was actually happening.

Now, this year, I can contrast how Oleg is doing and feeling with last year, because in fact I did report how badly things were going for him (of course, he was ranked number one or two for much of last year).

Oleg is feeling much better and he says this is because he is no longer flying a prototype or a glider that isn't performing nearly as well as the Combat 2. Obviously, his new glider is doing much better.

I got to see a lot of Oleg in the air in the Open and I can say that there is a marked changed in his flying from last year (although I don't think it is as yet quite up to what I've seen when he goes one on one with Manfred). He is much more aggressive than last year (when it seemed like he really didn't want to do well).

Oleg is a lot happier and his results are a lot better and he's flying very well.  We've still got a couple of competitions to go, so let's see what happens with Gerolf gets back on the Litespeed.  I'd love to see those two go at it.

Discuss "Oleg doing well" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:05 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Litesport

Gerolf said that he has to fly the Litesport slower than the Litespeed and not try to keep up with the topless gliders.  It just doesn't have the good performance at the higher speeds and he has to be willing to let the other guys get to the next thermal first.

Now this isn't such a bad thing because it makes the other guys out in front do the grunt work of finding the next best area of lift.  Gerolf in the Litesport can then come in a bit later and take advantage of the better lift.

Igot to see a lot of Gerolf on the last day and plenty of times I was near the top of the gaggle.  Flying slow definitely pays off.

He also mentioned that he had better handling than the topless gliders and therefore was able to make quicker adjustments in the thermals to take advantage of surges that topless pilots struggled with.  I did see him up to his old tricks of circling inside other pilots in the thermal.

Discuss "Litesport" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:06 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic OzGAP and virtual goals

The big changes introduced at the Australian Open with the use of the new OzGAP scoring system with its higher points for early starters (if they fly reasonably fast) and the use of virtual goals.  These new competition features were not without their detractors, but personally I loved them.

Virtual goals allow for a great deal of flexibility when choosing goals, especially when you have to come up with three different tasks, and you can't necessarily get everyone into the same goal.  It also cuts down a lot on the meet organizer's burden as they don't have to go out and physically inspect each possible goal.

There was a physical goal marker at the floater or king posted goal, but not always at the open goal if it was different than the goal for the other pilots.  Having the marker is great.  Having a goalie who is making sure the beer at goal is cold, is also great.

The OzGAP system worked exactly as it was designed to work – to get much of the field out on the course as early as possible.  The goal for departure points for the GAP system was to get some wind dummies out on the course line as thermal markers, but it never consistently worked.

Pilots were disadvantaged if they didn't tow early enough and get going on the first "gun" gaggle.  Gordon and Jon, Jnr were stuck at 3,000' over the tow paddock and couldn't get up to the gaggle that left early on the last day.

This was the biggest early gaggle, as pilots slowly absorbed the lessons of the OzGAP system each day.  If it is used at the Nationals and Bogong Cup, we will now be ready for it.

Discuss "OzGAP and virtual goals" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:07 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Will Fly for Food

CIVL|Gordon Rigg|PG|USHGA

Germany has thirty thousand paraglider and hang glider pilots in its national organization.  The pay the equivalent of $60/year each for membership, magazine, and insurance.  About $90,000 (5%) is allocated for competition related expenses.

The US has 10,000 USHGA members.  With a membership income of a little over $500,000, about $10,000 (2%) is allocated for competition related expenses (mainly NAA/FAI/CIVL membership).

The French government sponsors the French hang gliding team.  National team expenses are paid for by the government.

A few years ago, according to Gordon Rigg, that British Tory government decided to allocate some money from the British lottery system for support of sports.  Sport associations were invited to send in bids.  The BHPA did send in a bid, for the equivalent support of about $250,000/year to build a strong national team.

The government (after Labor came in) decided that only Olympic sports would get any money from the lottery.  The British Olympic teams which receive this support have markedly improved and the athletes attribute the improvement to the fact that they can now train full time.

Discuss "Will Fly for Food" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:08 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Alternative WPRS

Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Michael Zupanc|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

(Zupy|Zupanc)|Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Michael Zupanc|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Michael Zupanc|World Pilot Ranking Scheme|Zupanc)

Michael "Zupy" Zupanc|Michael Zupanc|World Pilot Ranking Scheme

Michael Zupanc «zupy» writes:

The new WPRS database has started.  You might have a glance at http://www.ozemail.com.au/~zupy/wpr/wpr.htm.

Discuss "Alternative WPRS" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:09 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Stanwell Park

Martyn Yeomans|photo

Martyn Yeomans «myeomans» sends in photos of Stanwell Park

Looking down at Stanwell Park from about 1,500 ft. The landing "chute" is between the lagoon and the regrowth area.

Discuss "Stanwell Park" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:10 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic 2002 Chelan Classic

Chelan Classic 2002|Worlds

Looks the Chelan XC Classic will be happening July 1st through 6th. This is the big meet at Chelan before the Women's and Rigid Wing (including Swifts) Worlds – July 11th (two practice days) through 21st.

Discuss "2002 Chelan Classic" at the Oz Report forum   link»

Sun, Jan 6 2002, 12:00:11 am EST

to Table of Contentsto next topic Flyability

PG|Steve Varden

Steve Varden «Steve_Varden» writes:

A significant Flyability web-site update has now been done.  The specialist equipment pages have been updated and include: More details of the paragliding wheelchair from Australia, We have some great photo's of a Polish paragliding launch buggy, And some photo's of Greek wheelchair paragliding, Gary Majourau describes his one-handed paragliding technique and equipment n The Joy of (one handed) Flight, A new Flyability Smartgroup / discussion list has been created.

http://www.flyability.org.uk

Discuss "Flyability" at the Oz Report forum   link»

The Oz Report, a near-daily, world wide hang gliding news ezine, with reports on competitions, pilot rankings, political issues, fly-ins, the latest technology, ultralight sailplanes, reader feedback and anything else from within the global HG community worthy of coverage. Hang gliding, paragliding, hang gliders, paragliders, aerotowing, hang glide, paraglide, platform towing, competitions, fly-ins. Hang gliding and paragliding news from around the world, by Davis Straub.

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